Alpha band

Wilco release two collections today [December 1] on Nonesuch Records. What's Your 20?: Essential Tracks 1994-2014 is a 2-CD/digital compilation of songs culled from the band’s previously released studio recordings, while Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 is a 4-CD/4-LP/digital-box-set of rare studio and live recordings collected from the band’s extensive audio archives.

Around the turn of the millennium, Jeff Tweedy merrily nurtured a reputation as a contrarian. How best could a man, sanctified as the archetype of what was once called alt-country, confound his fans? With antsy powerpop? Radio static? Fifteen-minute ambient noise jams? The recruitment of a fiendish avant-jazzer to take over on lead guitar? A song for a Spongebob Squarepants movie?

Plus more unreleased material being issued this month

It’s quite hard to imagine that such a thing as a Great Lost Album could still exist, at a time when everything seems available....

Previously: 50-35, 34-17

The 30 best reissues of the year

Lavish multi-disc reissue for official debut by avant-punk psych-rock surrealists

"Space Invader" and "Alphabet City" didn't appear on their latest album

“These moments and many more are why this album still means something to people ten years later”

We are not trying to break your heart!